A warning issued by Pakistan Metreological Department (PMD) on Friday has warned of a possible outbreak of Dengue in the coming October, particularly in big cities like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Larkana and Multan.
The PMD warned that dengue fever had deepened its roots and impacted the health of people over the last 10 years. A spokesperson said that fever season is especially strong during the post-monsoon season — September 20 to December 5.
1026 patients have been brought to the hospitals in the current season.
A rain emergency has been imposed in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Water and Sanitation Authority is advised to drain out the water in three shifts only to avoid the accumulation of water that provokes dengue breeding.
Dawn quotes the PMD spokesperson as saying, “Dengue triggers during those periods when the temperature and humidity threshold remains 26-29 degrees Celsius (3-5 weeks) and 60 per cent, respectively. Moreover, rainfall remains more than 27mm with a maximum time lag period of three weeks. The active period for dengue attacks is two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset.”
Once the temperature falls below 16°C, the breeding starts declining as well. Past analysis and especially the retreat of monsoon provides an ideal environment for a dengue outbreak, he stressed.
After this public caution, the PMD advised all stakeholders to take preventive measures for the dengue outbreak.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaulah Tarar reiterated on Friday that the ban on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) has been imposed amid security concerns in Pakistan.
Speaking to Voice of America in New York, he cleared that this particular step taken by the previous interim government should not be perceived as an attempt to curb freedom of expression.
The Information Minister pointed out that X was being used by separatist and terrorist groups, which were propogating against the country.
“Terrorists broadcast their terrorist activities on social media,” he said.
Tarrar stressed on the need to establish a mechanism to regulate social media to avoid its misuse.
“As Pakistanis, we can request the management of X to remove anti-state content uploaded by terrorists,” he added.
A small number of lawyers protested outside the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan yesterday, chanting, “Go donut go,” referring to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa.
The slogan “Go donut go” was raised after a month-old video appeared on social media showing CJP Qazi Faez Isa, along with his family, attempting to purchase donuts at Crusteez Donuts in Islamabad Blue Area, where an employee was rude to him while recording the incident.
Advocate Salman Akram Raja, while addressing the protest, said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came out to protest for the rule of law and constitution.
However, the small numbers and slogans got social media laughing. Here are some funny tweets:
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has stated that his controversial Islamabad rally speech on September 8 was taken “out of context” and misinterpreted.
Speaking to a delegation of Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur said that the “color being given to my speech on social media is not correct in Islam and Shariat, I will tell my supporters to avoid immorality in social media posts.”
On September 8, Gandapur gave a controversial speech targeting journalists and CM Punjab Maryam Nawaz, saying, “We will go to Lahore with Barat and music.”
He further said, “Media is the fourth pillar of the state with significant responsibilities. I will always take media’s criticism in a positive way and reform.”
The CM KP also said that the armed forces and police are making daily sacrifices in the war against terrorism.
Celebrity couple Hiba Bukhari and her husband Arez Ahmed have reacted to false news about pregnancy on social media and said that they have had four to five children on YouTube.
They have broken their silence on rumours about Hiba supposedly being pregnant in a new vlog on their YouTube channel.
She termed the false news dangerous and said, “I am very afraid of such news.”
A few days ago, Nadia Khan claimed that Hiba Bukhari is pregnant and Arez Ahmed told her about it, but till now, they have not spoken on the matter.
The couple is now in London for the Hum Awards, and Hiba finally stepped out in a bodycon dress with a jacket, showing off her bump.
The couple will be attending the award show tonight.
Hiba also spoke to the media when she arrived for the event. The public is reacting to her bump reveal backstage at the Hum Awards.
A large gathering appeared at Friday’s rally organised by the Swat Qaumi Jirga at Nishat Chowk, Mingora, against terrorism and military operations in the region.
The protestors maintained that acts of terrorism in the region were “state-sponsored and artificial” and warned that Swat’s residents would take matters into their hand if the state didn’t wipe out terrorism, Dawn News reported.
A protestor holding a white flag in his hand stated, “We are fed up with these fabricated terrorism projects. We demand peace and development initiatives on Pashtun soil. Those who devise these plans must know that such tactics can no longer fool the Pakhtun nation.”
Citing the September 21 attack on diplomats at Malam Jabba region, a speaker said, “Swat residents are known for their hospitality. Those foreign dignitaries were our guests, but unfortunately, some elements, who are opposed to Swat’s progress, orchestrated the bomb blast on their convoy,”
On Friday, veteran journalist Azaz Syed, on the Youtube channel ‘Talk SHOCK’, revealed that the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce hadn’t informed the Foreign Ministry of the diplomat’s visit to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Israel has shifted the focus of its aggression from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people and displaced around 118,000 over the past few days.
Israeli military announced on Saturday that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a massive strike on Beirut the previous night.
“Hassan Nasrallah is dead,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani announced on X (formerly Twitter).
Captain David Avraham, another military spokesman, also confirmed to AFP that the Hezbollah chief had been “eliminated” following strikes on Friday on the Lebanese capital.
A source close to the Lebanese group meanwhile told AFP on condition of anonymity that contact with Nasrallah had been lost since Friday evening.
Contact with the group leader had been lost for two days and he had been rumoured killed during Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006, the source said, adding that he later re-emerged unscathed.
Israeli media has also claimed that Zainab Nasrallah, the daughter of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has been martyred in the latest attack on Lebanon.
A report by Israeli new channel claimed the martyrdom of Zainab Nasrallah in an Israeli attack on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut but this news has not yet been confirmed by Hezbollah or the Lebanese authorities.
Zainab Hassan Nasrallah was recognized as a strong voice in Lebanon for supporting Hezbollah and for her family’s sacrifices.
In an interview to Al-Manar TV in 2022, while discussing the reaction of her parents to the martyrdom of her brother Hadi, Zainab Hassan Nasrallah said that not one tear fell from her parents’ eyes upon the martyrdom of her brother.
As per Israeli military statement, the strikes also killed Ali Karake, commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, and an unspecified number of other Hezbollah commanders.
Who will replace Nasrullah?
Adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Ali Larijani has said that Hezbollah is ready to launch an alternative leadership movement if Nasrallah is dead. Talking about other commander and leaders in line, Ali Larijani said that Israel has crossed the “red line”, the situation has become very serious.
In case of the martyrdom of the Hezbollah leader, alternative leadership is ready to run the movement, said Larijani in a recent presser. On the other hand, the Iranian news agency Tasnim News Agency claimed that the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was safe in the Israeli attack.
Thousands sleep on the streets as Israel strikes Beirut
Thousands of residents in Beirut’s densely-packed southern suburbs camped out overnight in streets, public squares and makeshift shelters after Israel ordered them out before its jets attacked the so-called Hezbollah stronghold.
“I expected the war to expand, but I thought it would be limited to (military) targets, not civilians, homes, and children,” said south Beirut resident Rihab Naseef, 56, who spent the night in a church yard.
AFP photographers saw families spend the night in the open, scenes unheard of in Lebanon’s capital since the Hezbollah and Israel last went to war in 2006.
“I didn’t even pack any clothes, I never thought we would leave like this and suddenly find ourselves on the streets,” Naseef said.
Israeli jets pounded Beirut’s south and its outskirts throughout the night, and Beirut woke up to the aftermath of a night at war, smoke billowing from blazes in several places.
‘What will happen?’
“I’m anxious and afraid of what may happen. I left my home without knowing where I’m going, what will happen to me, and whether I will return,” Naseef said. Despite a night of intense strikes, the extent of the devastation and the casualty toll was still unclear early Saturday.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television broadcast footage from southern Beirut that showed flattened buildings, streets filled with rubble and clouds of smoke and dust above the area known as Dahiyeh.
Have you ever struggled to recognize someone’s face? Does it happen so often that it gets frustrating? The phenomenon happens to Ushna Shah. She shared on her Instagarm that she has prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, which makes it hard for a person to recognize faces.
She wrote, “I want to draw your attention to prosopagnosia or face blindness, which affects a person’s ability to recognize people’s faces, and I have been developing it over time.”
She continued, “I sometimes have trouble recognizing someone’s face instantly, which used to be a joke now makes me feel deprived and I’m sure I’m not alone.”
She added, “I am saving this message in the highlights of my account so that people who already know me or whom i may come in contact with in the future do not get confused and know about my condition.”
She also called for more awareness in society regarding prosopagnosia or face blindness.
Prosopagnosia is commonly called face blindness.
Harvard Medical School says that prosopagnosia is a mysterious condition, in which the patient’s mind deceives him.
The patient’s mind forces him to recognize people he has never met or his mind fails to recognize people who are around him and according to recent research 33% of people with prosopagnosia are suffering.
Langurs, which have long been trained in India to drive away wild animals, have now been deployed for a cricket match.
The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has hired langurs to prevent monkeys from entering the stadium during the ongoing Test match between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur.
The Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has hired langurs to prevent monkeys from entering the stadium during the ongoing Test match between India and Bangladesh in Kanpur.
The monkeys snatch food and other items like mobile phones from the fans arriving at the stadium to watch the cricket match, causing trouble to the fans. They also disturb camera operators who are part of the Bandar Broadcaster team.
An Indian Express report said that monkeys are afraid of langurs, so the authorities have deployed trained langurs for security outside the stadium so that the fans who come to watch the match in the stadium do not have any trouble from the monkeys.
The first day of the Kanpur Test, which started on Friday, is over. Bangladesh scored 107 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, and the host team had a 1-0 lead in the series.
During a hard hitting address on Friday, Prime Minister (PM) of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif slammed Israel at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, highlighting the brutal assault on Gaza, the Ukraine conflict and India’s violent actions in occupied Kashmir.
Declaring Israel’s actions in Gaza a “merciless genocide”, he said, “This is a systematic slaughter of the innocent people of Gaza.”
Warning the world of Israel’s crimes against humanity, he said, “Failure to implement UN resolutions could engulf the entire Middle East, and its consequences would be beyond imagination.”
He stressed the need for Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the United Nations.
Commenting on India’s absurd assertion of invading Azad Kashmir, he clearly stated, “Pakistan will respond decisively to any Indian aggression.”
He also raised concerns about New Delhi’s ruthless occupation that crushes Kashmiri’s lives under an iron fist.
Citing New Delhi’s heinous efforts to turn Kashmir into a playground for exploitation, he said that India always avoids the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions over Kashmir.
He added, “Since August 5, 2019, India has taken unilateral, illegal actions to impose what its leaders ominously call a ‘Final Solution’ for Jammu and Kashmir.”
He urged the implementation of a UN Security Council resolution in Kashmir.
Citing India’s blatant act of aggression, he said, “The UN has failed to counter India’s prolonged curfew, abduction of numerous young Kashmiris and extra-judicial killing.”
The Premier also highlighted the dangers of climate change that Pakistan is currently facing. “Pakistan was devastated by the flood in 2022, which cost 30 billion dollars in damages despite the country contributing less than one per cent to global carbon emissions.”
On SDGs in nearly 100 underdeveloped countries, he concluded his speech by calling it a “death trap” rather than a “debt trap.”
